Curriculum and Instruction - SAS-WASC

content knowledge. Teachers are concerned that there seems not to be enough timeto address both – and skills are then compromised, perhaps in part because of thepressures of high performance on external exams.MappingThe task force undertook the mapping of the science curriculum content area bycontent area. Standards and benchmarks are currently content-driven and thoughskills benchmarks do follow the content standards on Atlas task force membersagreed that the debate between covering skills and content needs to be resolved.This may best be resolved through the facilitation of an outside audit by experts inscience education who are also knowledgeable about AP and IB science examinationcontent requirements. (See Science Subject Area Evidence Binder for specificrecommendations).Next Steps:• Adopt standards and benchmarks for grade 11 and 12 courses in science.• Set Atlas goals for 2008-2009 in 6-12 science, ensuring that units reflect what istaught, not what one hopes to teach• Revisit and adopt essential teaching agreements• Seek outside input in the form of a science audit to determine how a balancebetween content and skills might be achieved without compromising IB and APperformance.• Explore the benefits and drawbacks of each: teaching the science process throughthe content or the content through the science process.• Review the requirements of a lab program and determine what scheduling andprogrammatic models might best deliver such a program.• Ensure that the planned scaffolding of the curriculum, intended to build on thelearning in previous years, is actually occurring.• Ensure alignment and collaboration between campuses – including commonassessments.HOW CURRICULUM IS TAUGHTGrade 9 and 10 Trimesters/SemestersIn grades nine and ten, science is divided in to trimesters, each addressing biology,chemistry and physics benchmarks. At Puxi, there are very few students who transferin mid-year – and those who do are from the SAS Pudong campus. At Pudong,however, there is a much higher rate of students who transfer in and those studentsoriginate from other schools from around the world – many of which are Americanschools that offer distinct science subjects in each year. Another hurdle was that lowerstudent numbers in Pudong meant that the same teacher could teach all trimesters– and with that, integrating the standards and benchmarks across science subjectsseemed only natural to those teaching the course – and such integration is supportedby literature in science education that suggests an integrated approach helps studentsto deepen learning by creating stronger connections across the science subject areas.The passionate views held on both sides of the integration debate, as well as thehigh expectations of parents on both campuses and the pressure on Pudong campusfor high external examination results (the first of which will come in July 2008)comparable to Puxi’s, suggest seeking an outside audit of the science program ingrades nine and ten.Transfer to other schoolsIn response to parent concern, research with the school registrar and counselors wasundertaken to determine if the trimester system has any impact on students whotransfer back to the United States from Shanghai American School. Data gatheredfrom the high school counselors and school registrar has revealed no impact ontransfer students. In two instances, receiving schools asked for further explanationof the SAS grade nine program and awarded credit upon receipt of the explanation.The school will continue to monitor transfer data to ensure ease of transfer of sciencecredits for grade nine and ten students who leave us.Shanghai American School Self Study Report 105